We'd heard the Pope was riding in Popemobile-style yesterday in Washington, DC so we were…
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The Cadillac Allanté was the first salvo in the "reimaging" of Cadillac to be viewed once again as a purveyor of world-class automobiles. Intended as a Mercedes SL competitor, the ultra-luxury roadster shared drivetrains with the Eldorado and Seville, but little else. The modern body looked nothing like its baroque brothers and sisters due to having been penned by legendary design house Pininfarina, who also handled the body assembly. The cars were then loaded into a 747, 56 to a flight, for an 18 hour journey to the Cadillac plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. Nicknamed the "World's longest assembly line" this method added substantially to the cost of producing the car, but does make it eligible for inclusion in our wacky week of Nice Price or Crack Pipe Italian iron.

Just to put you in the mood:

This polo-green Allanté is presently in Toronto, so you know the car is immaculate and the seller scrupulously honest. The '93 Allanté, lacked the standard aluminum hardtop of the earlier cars, and it appears the option box for that 60lb add-on went unchecked when this car left the line. Also missing are the Recaro seats of the '89 – '92 cars, having been replaced with less expensive Lear thrones for 1993. What this car does possess is both twilight and centennial lighting, which sounds like something you could debate the merits of with your polo buddies, or the supermodels lounging on your yacht- if Cadillac advertising is to be believed.

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Your progress on the road to the finer things in life will be both stately and sedate because while the Pininfarina design has held up very well, the 290bhp Northstar V8 tends to be lethargic, and sounds like a strangled fart if you do give it some right foot.

So how is $22,436 (or $27,000 Canadian) for some 16-year old Cadillac style? A nice enough price? Or does the preferred lifestyle Cadillac imagined include a healthy dosage of crack pipe?